According to gross domestic product (GDP) figures released Friday, Japan's economy appears to be headed for recession.

Japan's gross domestic product fell .8 percent in the April to June quarter from the previous three months.

Economist James Malcolm of J.P. Morgan says that represents an annualized decline of 3.2 percent, slightly better than most forecasts. "It is not much cause for consolation in so far as private domestic demand is contracting fairly sharply, public domestic demand is contracted sharply and external demand contracted sharply," he said.

Most analysts expect the economy to continue shrinking for the rest of the year, pushing it into recession. The GDP numbers show that the global economic slowdown is deeply affecting Japan.